
A Republican Colorado House primary victory Tuesday is getting a lot of attention around the nation today, as Gordon "Dr. Chaps" Klingenschmitt's reputation as a fringe right nutjob of the highest order gets reconciled with his entirely possible swearing in as a Colorado legislator next January. A brief roundup of Klingenschmitt coverage, starting with our friends at Right Wing Watch:
Last year, "Dr. Chaps" Gordon Klingenschmitt announced that he was running for a seat in Colorado's legislature and his long history as a disgraced former Navy Chaplain who brags about having successfully performed an exorcism on a lesbian soldier and who has stated again and again that demonic spirits are behind everything from abortion to gay marriage to ENDA to President Obama to Madonna won him the support of the vast majority of GOP caucus-goers earlier this year, setting up a primary showdown against another GOP hopeful which took place last night.
Klingenschmitt won that primary race by several hundred votes, becoming the official Republican nominee for House District 15 in the Colorado House of Representatives…
Just let that sink in: a man who thinks that "Obamacare causes cancer," that the Bible commands people to own guns in order to "defend themselves against left wing crazies," and that the FCC is allowing demonic spirits to "molest and visually rape your children" is now a Republican candidate for office.
There is simply too much that is wonderful about this big win. This is a guy who worries that evil spirits from gay people are turning animals gay. A candidate who urges photographers to free themselves from the tyranny of having to take pictures of same-sex weddings by printing up business cards proclaiming that gays should be stoned to death. A gentleman who has detected signs of demonic possession in Disney kids’ shows.
Huffington Post's Marina Fang:
He's also obsessed with demons, connecting them to many people and issues. For instance, he thinks "a demon of tyranny" has possessed President Barack Obama and is oppressing America, a demon has led the Federal Communications Commission to enforce lax decency standards and "molest and visually rape your children," and "a demon of murder" controls Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis (D) and her pro-choice stance…
If elected, Klingenschmitt hopes to introduce legislation allowing businesses and religious organizations to deny services to gay couples.
Raw Story's David Ferguson:
Human beings are not the only creatures at risk from “gay demons,” Klingenschmitt believes. Animals, too, he said, can be possessed by them as well.
Right Wing Watch’s Kyle Mantyla wrote, “Klingenschmitt is a viciously anti-gay theocrat who openly proclaims that American law must reflect God’s law, which is why gay people should be discriminated against since only people who are going to heaven are entitled to equal treatment by the government.”
Klingenschmitt also said that gay soldiers are unfit for combat because they are constantly “taking breaks on the combat field to change diapers all because their treacherous sin causes them to lose control of their bowels.”
There's not a lot for us to add here, as Mr. Klingenschmitt himself leaves very little to the imagination in his lurid, obsessive rants about gay people on his little show. But should Klingenschmitt prevail in this GOP-leaning district against Democrat Lois Fornander this November, the damage he stands to do to the Republican brand as a state legislator may be as good for Democrats as winning the seat.
Move over, "Anus Granny."
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